It doesn’t matter that the Aztecs (8-3 overall, 6-1 Mountain West) have won six games in a row.

It doesn’t matter that they’re tied for first place in the Mountain West.

All that matters this week is that Wyoming (4-7 overall, 3-4 MWC) will be the first spread offense San Diego State has had to face since it gifted Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr with a career day in single-game passing yards (536) and touchdowns (five) on Sept. 29.

Carr also set Mountain West records for most pass completions (42) and total offensive yards (579) that night in a game where SDSU’s pass defense looked catatonic at best.

The Aztecs would like to put that night in the past. Since then, they’ve turned the season around, and have allowed only one QB — Nevada’s Cody Fajardo — to hit the 300-yard passing mark.

But as SDSU prepares to take on the Cowboys in the season finale this week, even head coach and defensive coordinator Rocky Long can only speculate as to how his team will do against Wyoming’s sizzling-hot spread offense.

“I’ll say that Wyoming is a lot more like Fresno State than anybody we’ve played since them,” Long said. “We have played against some spread formations and some teams that have used the spread against us, but Fresno State is entirely a spread team, and Wyoming is entirely a spread team.

“So obviously we’re nervous.”

Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith is hitting his stride just in time to cause problems for the Aztecs. The sophomore is ninth nationally in passing efficiency, and he’s thrown for 11 touchdowns and 1,021 yards in the past three games. Smith also hasn’t thrown an interception in more than a month — his last pick came on Oct. 20, coincidentally, against Fresno State.

Given the Aztecs’ performance the last time they faced a deadly accurate spread quarterback, Smith’s efficiency is worrisome.

Even Long isn’t sure how his defense will perform this weekend.

“I don’t have any idea,” he said. “I think we’re playing with more confidence, and we’re playing better than we did (against Fresno) overall. So you would expect us to play them better than we did Fresno State,” Long said. “But we haven’t been challenged like that yet.”

Still, certain factors are heartening.

The Aztecs pass defense has gone from a No. 101 national ranking after the Fresno State game, to its current ranking of 57.

On average, SDSU is giving up 232.55 pass yards per game now — roughly 42 yards, or 15 percent, less than six weeks ago.

But the biggest difference, according to Long, has been the improved play of the defensive line and linebackers.

“The only way to slow a spread team down is to have four guys up front that can stop the run and pressure the quarterback,” Long said, citing Stanford’s win over Oregon last weekend as an example of a defensive victory over a high-powered spread team. “They did it with a four-man front. They rushed four and got pressure on the quarterback, and Oregon couldn’t do anything.

“If you can’t do it with a four-man front, and you need more than that, the spread team has all the advantages.”

So can the Aztecs get to the QB with a four-man rush?

“I believe so,” said defensive end Jordan Thomas. “We’ve gotten better each week. I believe we’ve been able to get to the quarterback with our four (men) instead of having to bring six.

“That takes a little bit of pressure off the DBs.”

Long agrees that the defensive line is playing much better now than it did earlier this season.

But the continued development of SDSU’s linebackers has also been instrumental in the Aztecs’ pass rushing success.

Since Fresno, MLB Jake Fely and OLBs Nick Tenhaeff and Derek Largent have ignited to combine for 10 sacks. All three factor prominently in the list of the Aztecs’ top six tacklers.

“I think the biggest difference on defense is that we’ve simplified a lot more things and now we just go and play instead of thinking so much,” Thomas said.

Now, they’re reacting on instinct. And after that brutal night in Fresno, this week’s game could finally yield full vindication.